Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by marksto:

3.84/5 rDev -7%look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Pours dark and opaque with a medium tan head that has medium retention. Aroma has nice complexity with hints of carmel, roast, vanilla, fruit, and coffee. Flavor also has good complexity with many of the same flavors there. Carmel notes blend nicely with mild roast and cherry pit essences. The body, an essential component for this style, is medium and not quite as creamy as some of the very best RIS's.

More User Reviews:

I have sampled this beer a few times in the past now on tap at Cole's in Buffalo,came to the table a jet black with a rich mocha colored head atop.Black licorice and burnt notes are big with underlying biter chocolate coffee as well,that licorice is even bigger on the palate I am not a huge fan of black licorice so I didnt care for that but it also has some deeply roasted and chocolate qualities wich are nice full and creamy mouthfeel.A little different flavor wise than alot of the style if you like the licorice than you'll like this alot.

Taste: Bitter bakers chocolate and coffee blended perfectly with sweet dark fruits (black or mulberries mainly). On top of that a strong roasted malt, almost smoked quality comes through. Also a leafy presence.

Siberian Night pours close to black, but slightly see-through into a large snifter. When held to the light, there is a bit of a ruby and brown transparent tint. A one-finger head has a lighter hue than I expected; it is a medium to dark khaki. The lacing is good - splotchy and nicely sticky.

The overall aroma is quite sweet. Notes of caramel, brown sugar, milk chocolate, plum, cherry, and some evidence of roasty, toasty malts fill my nose. I think the aroma is just a little on the thin side.

Contrary to the smell, the roasted and toasted malts are quite present and they latch onto the sides of my mouth, along with a boozey heat. Sweet flavors of caramel, dark chocolate, brown sugar, and plum land squarely on the broad of my tongue. At the finish of each sip, a nice lasting, roasty bitterness spreads over the whole of my palate. One small critique I have is that the taste is just a bit watery. Overall, though, good.

At first, the mouthfeel seems a little light, but as the beer rolls over my palate, it becomes quite creamy with a medium to full-bodied texture. That creaminess smoothly rolls into a bit of a puckering bitterness at the end of the sip, which cleans my palate nicely.

Yeah, I will give this another try in the future. It is not as complex as other RIS's that I have tried, but it has a solid flavor and good overall quality.

A-Black with no night with small head on pour. Nice looking stout.S-Roasty, Malty, but some vegetal smell that took away from aroma.T-Roasty coffee flavor, dark cocoa, but had some plastic and vegetal flavors that really detracted. Hoppy finish with an astringent flavor. Didn't seem quite right in this beer.M-Creamy and full in the mouth. Perfect carbonation with slightly dry finish. Very nice.D-I could drink another, but wouldn't drink too much more.

Some good aspects to this beer but some off flavors took away from the overall beer.

Siberian Night has grabbed a few medals from the GABF--two bronzes in 2003 and 2006, plus a gold in 2005--and the attention of beer geeks over the years as well.

A solid two fingers of brown foam subside to a ring of lace; the color is so dark that absolutely no light shall pass through this beer. Commingled roasted grain and a soft blackberry fruitiness, with a touch of malt sweetness; very aromatic. Full, malty body with a mild crispness and a growing smoothness. Velvety malt sweetness is like a fine dark chocolate. Dark-berry fruitiness complements the creamy chocolate flavor, and the roasted finish has a coffee tone. Thin caramel in the middle. The hops stand small when put up against the malt.

Not bad at all. This one may be lacking in boldness, but without a doubt it's one of the most drinkable Imperial Stouts on the market right now. You're better off pairing to complement, take our word for it. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, the darker the better.

Pours from the green eyed bottle a deep dark black with a small semi bubbly tan head on top. A sliver of light is all that can escape this one. Aromas of dark, charred toasty malts, hunks of rich chocolate, cherry fruit tones and molasses. Quite a nice treat to just sit back and smell.

First sip brings a creamy, viscous dark charred malt body with a hefty dose of chocolate flavor. Hints of dark fruit (cherry again) pop out on the way down along with a slight smokiness. A hint of burnt coffee and just a hint of bitterness end this one. A nice, warming imperial stout.

Mouthfeel is creamy with a nice big body that shows its strength with each sip. Drinkability here is pretty good...only knocked down a bit by the abv. Otherwise, this is a rich, tasty imperial that would be quite enjoyable on a cold night (hell...it's enjoyable on this hot summer night!) This one is worth a look into!

"Motor oil." That's how I overheard this beer being described by the table behind me on the Frederick Brewing Co. brewery tour today. I was lucky enough to get this contract brew on tap for free during the tour, and I can imagine it is even more amazing on tap than bottled.

Yes, it is a thick, hearty, beer, but in a positive way, all around. The rich coffee color is matched with a beautiful burnt cocoa head that sticks around.

The smell is truly exceptional. The most delicious coffee and dark chocolate aromas explode out of this beer.

The taste - also truly exceptional. For an imperial stout, the alcohol is very well masked. Deep, dark, swirling and intricate, this beer is a joy to drink. Hearty and full, but not overly chewy or overpowering. Its like they took it right to the edge, figured out what it would take to send it over the edge, and then backed it off - just one inch. Awesomely impressive.

I would love to find a bar that served this on tap. I would make it my session beer (even though it is obviously not intended for sessions), 9% alcohol be damned. The best imperial stout I have ever had.

The definite highlight of my foray into Thirsty Dog. This was a black, black beer with a medium head. A sweet, roasted malt aroma. Very nice chocolate/coffee taste, so smooth you almost forget you're drinking beer. No noticeable alcohol. I thought this was a fine example of an Imperial Stout.

A solid black beverage offers a thin, tan head. Particularly with what are supposed to be dark, black stouts (and aren't all Russian Imperials), I find myself judging appearance primarily by head. This one is thin, but nicely browned. It's a good-looking beer.

The smell is malty. There's a variety of malts in this one, and you can waft to the nasals each of them: toasted malts, caramel malts, and roasted malts. There is that RIS characteristic I always detect in this style, but I've yet to pinpoint the cause (I know I could read, but that's cheating). Nothing overly interesting, but solid.

The taste is very good. All those malts blend nicely, though the roasted ones subtlely dominate. Like the smell, there's little complexity. Though I taste the aformentioned RIS component, it's less apparent than in the nose. Honestly, I'd like more of it. As I continue to sip, I'm sorta dulled by the uniformity of the simple malt combo--every sip seems the same. A big stout will usually change as it warms, but this one remains a liquid malt trio. Though I initially embraced the malty flavor so easily detected, I yearn for more dynamic an experience. For whatever it's worth, it's a simply good stout.

Mouthfeel might most be where I need that RIS component to stand out. This is just a maltball. Without being chocolatey, it's still like candy. For an average stout, that's good. For a Russian Imperial Stout, it's a little less than that.

The candy-like maltness makes this a relatively tough beverage to rate highly on drinkability. Not that I expect to throw back a sixer of any RIS, but this one's almost forgettable. It's good, but it can't compete well with the best of its peers. Cool bottle, cool beer, but that just doesn't cut it anymore.

O: I was actually pretty impressed with this because it was so readily available. Thirsty Dog seems almost comical but they actually have some decent beers. I would put this almost on par with other Imperial Stouts from more well-know breweries and something you should try.

Dark dark head formed very dark but quickly dissipates and formed a spider web of lace on top but the lack of head is disappointing.The aroma starts sweet and malty, it is full of roasted barley and chocolate. it finishes with a slight alcohol nose. The taste state sweet and smooth and quickly turns roasted. The middle taste is slightly is almost a cola taste with the roasted taste takes over. The carbonation builds to the end and finishes with a lingering dark chocolate taste on the tongue. This taste lingers and leaves a slight dry bitter taste.

The body is not as full as your might expect for an Imperial but it is very drinkable.